Love4aviation is able to supply the genuine French Air Force fighter jet flight suits, this model is also known as “narrow cabin” model by opposition to the flight overalls supplied to transport and helicopter pilots. This design allows for maximum user friendliness in a confined cabin and is therefore extremely well suited for GA aircraft and sail glider pilots and is a must have for aerobatic pilots.

Normally the products specified and ordered by the defence forces are not available as one offs orders, but Love4Aviation is able to supply these depending on availablity and current production runs.

These flight overalls are manufactured for us in France by one of the official contractor of the French government, supplying specialist garments to various government agencies and defence forces, including Air Force, Navy, Army, Fire Services. Law Enforcement etc. Their military products meet the applicable NATO specifications.
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High Tec Fibre

The flight overalls are usually made of a fabric containing 50% Kermel, 49% Viscose and 1% antistatic fibre materials. The Kermel fibre is a high technology fibre, far superior to Nomex in term of durability, colour longevity and resistance to dirt.

Kermel is an Aramid fibre, similar to Kevlar and Nomex but of a different cross section and greater length resulting in a more pliable and comfortable material whilst retaining excellent heat and flame resistant properties. They also have better abrasion resistance.
Kermel fibres are dyed during manufacture and will retain their colour for the life of the product regardless of the number of washing cycles and exposure to UV rays.
The combination with viscose fibres provides improved comfort over 100% Kermel fibre fabrics as well as superior moisture transfer
The fabric meets EU standards for skin irritation Oeko-Tex Standard 100.
The overalls can be machine washed and ironed and do not need any fire retarding treatment after washing.

Kermel is superior to Nomex, especially in term of durability and colour. For example, pilots get 3 suits when they arrive in the Air Force and then only one new suit per year, and they wear it all day long all year long. Because of the dyed process, they don’t lose colour after washes compared to Nomex suits which start to fade after half a dozen washes, and they are more durable in term of resistance to scratch, so it’s a better investment than a Nomex suit.
It is the fibre itself which is fire resistant, so you can wash it with you other clothing in the washing machine, it won’t alter the fire resistance of the suit. In term of fire resistance Kermel and Nomex are equal. Our flight suits are a mix of Kermel and Viscose. The viscose is equally fire resistant, but gives more comfort to the detriment of mechanical strength. The viscose is made by Lenzing is Austrich, a big name in the textile industry. Kermel is lighter than viscose, so the more Kermel in it, the lightest and more durable the suit. More viscose=more comfort. Kermel is a bit abrasive on the skin without viscose, so a 100% Kermel suit needs underwear. The police has a 99% Kermel 1% antistatic fibre for law enforcement, that’s when they receive Molotov cocktails on them.
Both Kermel and Lenzing comply with Oeko-Tex standards for skin contact, which means the clothing can be used on babies, no chemicals are going through the skin from the fabric.
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Design, Layout

The overalls are easy to put on with the front and leg zips undone and they feel very light comfortable and airy.
There are no restrictions in arm and leg movements but they are a fairly tight fit and obviously designed for military pilots who will wear fire resistant long underwear under them. It will be essential to get the right size for height, chest and waist (contact us).
If additional clothes are worn underneath (trousers, shirts, pullovers etc.) there will be some restriction in movement. The overalls are designed to be your clothing, not to come over your clothing.
The overalls are made of a double stitched single layer of fabric with reinforcements on the shoulders, elbows and knees and includes the following features:

• Large chest pockets, L/R ,vertical zips which are easily accessible with shoulders straps done up.
• No regular side pockets. This would be nice to have for use outside the aircraft, if only to keep the hands warm, but would prove totally useless in flight and would result in an uncomfortable protuberance on the side when seated.
• Two (L/R) removable (velcro) upper leg pockets, with a zip on one side each and a clear, flexible, plastic window to allow notes to be written using soft pencils or felt tips. They have a handy fabric strip sewn onto the top to stow two pens/pencils for ready use. These pockets could be filled completely resulting in a considerable thickness which could potentially interfere with hand movements on the controls.
• Two deep lower leg pockets with a zip at the top to take charts or other large flat documents. 25cmx22cm.
• A pencil pocket on the left upper sleeve with a velcro flap to stop any of these to fall out and separate a zipped pocket underneath. The pencil holders will take two regular sized pens/pencils and there is an additional set of holders for two short pens/pencils sewn on top of these.
• Velcro patches on each upper arm and both sides of the chest to place name tags, wings, squadron patches etc.
• Adjustable elasticated waist band which feels comfortable and not restraining.
• Pleats at each side provide additional space in the upper back area.
• Double ended front zip.
• Sleeve zips, ends covered by velcro straps: for widening sleeve ends allowing more wrist movement but will not allow rolling up the sleeves.
• Inside leg zips with closing velcro straps: easy to get into.

All zips are brass and have a short double string at the end to allow easy gripping when wearing gloves.

• Large ventilation holes under the armpits.

Overal quality is excellent with double stitching throughout except at the sleeve and leg turnups.

What we like most about this suit is its design. We’ve had the opportunity to compare the French suit with the US one. We find our model more user-friendly. For example the front pockets can be accessed easily one handed with the shoulder and lap belts done up, whereas the US model has strange small biased pockets. The big leg pockets of the “narrow cabin” model can accommodate folded maps of all sizes and a lot of gear and it’s very easy to reach it in flight whereas the US model doesn’t have them. This is because traditionally French airplanes are narrower than US ones and don’t have storage spaces in the cockpit so the pilots must have all their gear and maps on them. We know on the paper it isn’t very apparent but in flight it is a world of difference.

We learnt a lot about fibre while working on this product. After many years in the Air Force, it never occurred to us how much technology was going into a simple work suit. We didn’t know how expensive these suits were neither, we thought the Air Force was just mean, but now that we bought them on our own money, we realize it is very expensive for a piece of clothing. But the day you have a crash landing, you’re probably happy having a fire resistant suit and if you are at sea, you’re probably happy having a suit that dries out quickly so that you stay warm, compare to cotton fabric. This gear is a high Tec gear that compares with Mountain gear, it is something that is expensive to buy but that has the potential to save your life and the quality is so much higher than a piece of clothing made in a cheap labor country that it will last for years, making it a cheap ownership cost on a monthly basis compare to anything you have in your wardrobe.
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Colour and Weight

The colours and fabric weights are specific to their application and depend on current manufacturing runs and there may not be a choice at any given time.
The flight overalls can also come in different densities. The NATO Green is 260g/Sqm, so it’s warm and resistant. The desert storm sand colour is 170g/Sqm so it’s lighter (for desert ops). The 260g comes only in Green, Sea Blue, Orange, Yellow. The navy blue comes in 215gm/M². The 170gm comes only in desert storm sand colour. We can also have the Police Blue in 205g and 215g. So it’s a bit complicated becase the fibre is so expensive, it isn’t possible to keep stocks of rolls of all different colours unless there is a firm order for many suits.
Our advise is the desert storm colour with a fabric weight 170gm/M² as used by desert storm air forces. These 170gm/M² overalls do not come in any other colour.
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